Observations by an academic researcher on the use of “open”-ness as a competitive strategy, with a particular interest in coping with the commoditization of information goods and technologies in an Internet-enabled world.

Friday, November 21, 2008

I’ve been traveling this week and — far from home — have seen more iPhone ads. Here are a couple of iPhone ads I saw Wednesday night while passing through airports.

Anyone want to hazard a guess where? (The second one should be a big tipoff).

In the interests of equal time, here’s a BlackBerry ad. My host on the trip was carrying a CrackBerry — as addicted as any American. While I saw a surprising number of iPhones at the (hint) workshop where I was speaking, my host said he stuck with the RIM product because (exactly as I feel) with the virtual keyboard the iPhone is not really a serious e-mail machine.Still, as a % of disposable income or per capita GDP, the iPhone here (hint) is quite a bit more expensive than in the States. A Matchbox car is $1 instead of $5 and most food items are about 50% or maybe even 1/3 of the cost as in the states. My spaghetti dinner Friday night was $3 and a half hour in an Internet cafe was 30¢.